José Antonio Garcia’s recommended recipe for Pacharan
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 16 comments
José Antonio ventured onto the site a couple of weeks go. He had been picking sloes in Spain, was planning to make Pacharan and wanted to find the English name of the fruit. Sloes.
Having read our post The Great Sloe Gin Challenge – Three variations of our sloe gin recipe he decided to make sloe gin but he left the recipe for Pacharan in the comments section. This is a drink from Navarra, a northern Spanish province. It’s a liqueur that combines sloes and Anisette.
This comment has haunted me:
.My own first “grown up” drink was Pernod. I loved the way the clear liquid became milky when water was added. I’ve always been crazy about aniseed flavoured drinks. José explained to me that this is not his own recipe but it is the one that he uses. The only aniseed drink that I could find in Tesco yesterday afternoon was Pernod.
As I was writing this post tonight, a new comment was added to the same post from Adrian in Wales who decries Pernod (made from star anise) and suggests Ouzo or Spanish Sweet Anais for this grog. Adrian’s recipe also includes a vanilla pod and coffee beans.
José Antonio Garcia’s recommended recipe for Pacharan:
Ingredients:
- 1 litre of Anisette
- 1/4 Kg of sloes
- Some people put some coffee beans and/or cinnamon stick into it.
Method:
- Add the sloes to the Anisette and leave to seep for 6 to 8 months.
- After eight months remove the sloes as they will spoil the liqueur if left in too long.
I am heading to France for the day in a couple of weeks time and hopefully will find some Sweet Anais or something similar. 250g of sloes are lolling in the freezer until then. Meanwhile, I have used the Pernod and added a few coffee beans to the sloes. It will be interesting to compare the flavours at the end of April 2008.
This date is already circled on our calendar as it seems light years away.
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Just returned from another trip to Spain having forgotten to buy a bottle of Pacharan, and found recipes here. Wonderful. Thank you. Sloe gin improves with age, i have discovered, and when you run out of gin, try using raspberries or blueberries; both work with gin or vodka. I just use a demi-john, half fill with fruit, pur in sugar and fill with gin/vodka. Keep turning/shaking till the sugar has dissloved and then…..drink. Mmmmmmmmm!
Hi Patricia
Sloe Gin is wonderful and also sloe vodka. Thanks for leaving your recipe – everyone has their own version. Yours looks interesting as it uses far more sloes and far less sugar than mine. Must give it a go next year.
We have several sloe gin posts on this blog and lots of comments and ideas particularly on the first sloe gin post https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=37
Hi
Anyone tried sloe gin, delicious. Pick sloes when ripe. Use a fork to make holes in the sloes, and put into a wide mouth jar, fill to just below brim. Add a level tablespoon of sugar for each pint of gin you add. Seal tightly. Every week turn the jar [upright, upside-down] untill a few days before christmas. Sieve the contents, cheers! Or you can keep the bottled liquer until next year, even better.
Hi Nia
I don™t know where you can buy anisette or sim in the UK. But someone out there might have the answer!
Glad to hear that your sloe/Pernod combination worked out well as we have the same sitting in our kitchen! Will add cinnamon and orange peel tomorrow.
Thanks for dropping by.
I tried making Pacharan last year; couldn’t find any anisette so had to resort to Pernod. It tasted great! I’ve made more this year, with coffee beans, camomile flowers, a cinnamon stick and some orange peel. That reminds me, I must go and give it a shake.
Does anyone know where you can get anisette or sim. in the UK?
Hi Amanda,
As yet, we have not tasted pacharan. Our version smells interesting already. Thanks for the vanilla tip!
Hi nà ,
Tanks so much for the prugnolo recipe. We can’t buy pure alcohol over here in the UK but I am hoping to find some in France. If so we will be making prugnolo too.
You have a great blog. I always enjoy visiting.
Hi Richard,
It would be great if you could find your pacharan recipe.
A bloggers liqueur tasting party would be fun 🙂
Hi Jose,
Thanks for your Anis buying tips. It’s great to have a new liqueur recipe to make. Much appreciated.
Hi there,
I´m glad you guys love pacharan.
I don´t know whether anissete fits properly in this recipe since I used an on-line translator to translate from the original word in spanish which is “anÃs”. Anis is a liquor made with the “pimpinella anisum” seeds, which is different from the star anis or “illicium verum”. The first seed grown in all the mediterranean shore, and this is why this drink is so popular is Spain.
I hope this helps when chosing your liquor to make your pacharan
Enjoy
🙂
I too love pacharan – I’m sure I’ve got a recipe somewhere that uses something other than anisette – I’ll try to dig it out.
When will you be sending out the invitations to the great tasting event of 2008?? 😉
wow, how timely, i discovered sloes in the woods for the first time this weekend! i wish i’d discovered your recipe before i put them to work! your various experiments all sound wonderful! we didn’t wait for the first frost, though it has been pretty cold of late. we don’t have a fridge or freezer either, so there was little choice to the matter there! we’re using an italian recipe called prugnolo – for now the sloes are to soak in pure alcohol (1kg to 1 litre) and then after a bit we can add the sugar and the spices (cinammon and cloves, i do believe!) …am looking forward to the outcome! will be nice to hear how yours is too! thanks for visiting my blog! have a good day 🙂
My husband loves pacharan. Many the night when after dinner with friends he’s suggested we all drink pacharan. I don’t really like it but it obviously has great memories for hubby. I might make some. Whenever I’ve tried it I’ve always been able to taste vanilla so will def add some of that.